DxO FilmPack 4 : creative photography tool set

DxO Labs today released DxO FilmPack 4. This new version is an important step towards more creativity for photographers renderings iconic analog film. The software adds many creative effects that are booming right now among photographers. Its user interface is deeply revised to become more graphic and more intuitive.

DxO FilmPack : film for digital images

If you do not know DxO FilmPack yet, here it is summarized in a few lines what this software can do for you. DxO FilmPack’s mission is to apply to digital photos the look and feel of analog photography. The scientific expertise of DxO Labs is found in the the way they profiled famous iconic films. The laboratory has profiled 60 films to determine the way they act in terms of dynamics, contrast, colorimetry and the density and shape of their grain. In addition to this, pictures of real-life scenes were shot with the same films and scanned in high resolution by renowned laboratories to complete the profile. Thus, with DxO FilmPack, you can find the feature films that you may have used in the past if you have started photography during the film era, and discover a whole palette offered by the various creative options brought by grain can which can be very aesthetic and serve your photographic intent. DxO FilmPack is used by a photographer who is the pride of the editor: Sebastiao Salgado (no less), who finds rendering feature of Kodak Tri-X film that helped hiù establish his name in the universe of black and white photography.

DxO FilmPack 4 : what’s new

DxO FilmPack 4 adds a range of reports designer photo looks (25), advertised as “fun and creative” in the way the new vignette effect, application of different textures like crumpled paper or paper grain, etc.. or the “light leak” effect in both color and monochrome. This effect of light leake is also an heritage of the film era when your film was spoiled by a light leak if your camera’s lid was not closed properly.

Picture frames appeare in DxO FilmPack 4 with 20 available designs and the ability to change their orientation.

The vibrance and microcontrast tools, which are currently booming among photographers and landed in all photo editing software, also comes in DxO FilmPack 4. They can act on the picture to increase saturation without affecting skin tones and boost a little the overall picture using microcontrasts.

A channel mixer allows working fine black and white photos.

Vignette has been improved and become more flexible with the ability to change its position because you may want to highlight a subject in the photo which may not be located right in the center of the frame. Vignette is accompanied by a related function : creative blur vignette. Like that.

All images recipes you may create can be saved and reapplied with one click. But you can also share them with friends if you export them as you can import others photo recipes that can be found in the community of DxO FilmPack 4 users. This is not new, but the possibilities are now completely limitless.

Newer, you can now crop photos directly into FilmPack 4, and print photos from the software itself that manages files in JPEG and TIFF ( 8 or 16-bit images) in sizes up to 200 megapixels .

DxO FilmPack 4 is available in a standalone version as well as a plug-in for :

Lightroom

Photoshop Elements

Photoshop CS / CC

Apertur

DxO Optics Pro 8 (also updated today in version 8.2)

DxO lab engineers were able to simplify the user interface of FilmPack : all presets are now accessible with a single click. You can display different types of comparison between the original image and the adjusted one, or see thumbnail rendering before applying a change or preset. The interface is reviewed in terms of adjustments with two separate tabs that splits the effects from adjustments. We go from one to another very easily. A button toggles color corrections to black and white settings.

DxO FilmPack 4 screenshots

dxo filmpack 4 is very strong for B&W photography.dxo filmpack 4 offers out-of-the-box image looks which are now requested by all kinds of photographers.Do you like black and White photography as I do ? Would you consider switching from Nik Silever Efex to DxO FilmPack ?The comparison view of dxo filmpack 4You can add your photo recipes to a favorite selection.Grain, cntrast, dynamic range, color / B&W : FilmPack 4 is joyfull playground for all kinds of photographers.

DxO Optics Pro 8.2

New cameras supported

In addition to FilmPack 4, DxO Labs today announced the availability of the update of its flagship software DxO Optics Pro v8.2. This new version supports tthe following new cameras :

Canon EOS 100D / Rebel SL1

Sony SLT-A58

Ricoh GR

DxO Optics Pro v8.2 is enhanced continuously with new DxO lens Modules and this update includes no less than 439 new combinations of camera / lense, providing support for new Canon, Zeiss, Nikkor, Panasonic, Olympus, Sigma, Sony, Tamron and Tokina lenses for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Ricoh and Sony cameras. DxO reminds us all that “The DxO optical modules contain tens of thousands of information on the characteristics and intrinsic defects of each camera body and lens. This database allows DxO Optics Pro to automatically make specific corrections required for each camera ( distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations, lens softness).”

DxO Optics Pro 8.2 and 4 FilmPack

In parallel with these new cameras supported by DxO Optics Pro 8.2, the new verdsion of the software allows to interact with the new set of photographic creative tools of DxO FilmPack 4 in its “Expert Edition”, and in plug-in mode. You’ve guessed it : to use FilmPack 4 plug-in for DxO Optics Pro 8, you must also buy DxO FilmPack 4. FilmPack 4 is NOT included into DxO Optics Pro…. while maybe they should think of an “ultimate version”.

DxO Optics Pro : TIPA Award 2013

Coronation for DxO Labs ! They were awarded a TIPA Awards 2013 for “Best Photo Software”. This distinction appears to be a great recognition of the press for the software and the entire team who adopted from the beginning an innovative policy for a software that lacks some important elements to replace the tenor of the segment (library management, books and gallery …) but offers new features and a definitely very efficient RAW engine. I have been working with the folks at DxO Labs since 2004 and it’s nice to see them rewarded today. Way to go !